Costa Ricans Encouraged to Start Revolution of Love in Central America

Top Image: Costa Rican traditional dancers perform for Lovin’ Life congregation. The Rev. In Jin Moon, president and CEO of the Unification Church in America, continued her evangelistic tour of Costa Rica with a message of encouragement to Unificationists gathered at the Ramada Plaza Herradura Hotel and later on a visit to the local Church Center on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011. The revolution of love, a key theme of her speech the previous day to an international women’s conference, was amplified in a sermon to 750 Unificationists. The key to starting this revolution is understanding who we are, that we are sons and daughters of God, to know the True Parents of mankind and to graft onto their lineage to become one family under God, she explained.

Rev. In Jin Moon giving Sunday LLM sermon. “When we do this, the barriers of religion, race and economics disappear,” she said. “How else can we explain how women from opposite ends of the earth, who have done great things for their lives, come together, for the first and second time, celebrating their womanhood, in this time of the Pacific era? They are coming together through our True Parents and understanding that we come together as one family,” Rev. Moon told the congregation. “I, as a senior pastor of Lovin’ Life Ministries, really want to see the beauty of America blossom in the eyes of the world. In a way, America was prepared by God to really exercise its

proper ability to influence the world. America was equipped to prepare the path of the Lord, to work with the Lord, with our True Parents to help humanity see beyond violence, beyond the differences, and to see that we belong to the same heavenly Parent and must help usher in a world of harmony and love,” she continued. “This is an incredible time when we women can come together in this beautiful country of Costa Rica that symbolizes peace, smack in the middle of Central America, holding two continents together North and South. If we harness who we really are, if we harness what an incredible time this is, and if we work with our True Parents, we can explode the revolution of love to take place in this country. But what’s the center of Central America? The center is in our hearts! If Central America can really inherit this rich heart of God, this rich heart that exercises, that shares in this spirit of true love, becomes one family under one God, then the revolution of love can start here,” she explained to applause.

Costa Rican kids sing a prepared song. Rev. Moon also encouraged Costa Ricans to believe that their passion for True Love could make a historic difference in the Providence of God and correct historic imbalances between North and South America, and even between men and women. “Do you sometimes feel like you are second-class? Like sometimes you have not been given as much light as North America?” she asked. “Well the Bible says that in the time of the Second Coming the last shall be first and the first shall be last. There is no need to feel that God doesn’t see us or that somehow God forgot about us. This is the time when the first shall be last and the last shall be first,” she said, adding: “In a way, the female sex, that has been so relegated and so abused, can now be asked to lead, can now be asked to stand in the position to usher in this new millennium. South America can now take the lead in allowing the world to wake up to what an incredible time this is.” The eight-member band, “Sonic Cult,” brought its signature rock-concert music, including a mélange of Unificationist congregational songs, and its own compositions. Songs performed included “Shining Fatherland,” “I Saw the Light,” “Naked, Homeless and Hungry,” by Ben Lorentzen, “Never Gonna Live Without Your Love,” by Rev. Joshua Cotter, “With Everything,” by Hillsong, “Beautiful Day, “ by U2, and “Everlasting Love,” by Buzz Cason. Costa Rican traditional dancers in colorful long skirts also put on a show enjoyed by all. Rev. Moon stood for more than an hour to personally greet all Costa Rican families that wanted to meet her. Costa Rican church leaders credited the large turnout to the contact reach of TV Channel 52, “Tele-Paz,” their own TV station, which has been broadcasting entertainment, talk-shows and Divine Principle lectures since 2003.

Unificationist shares hug with Rev. In Jin Moon. In the evening, Rev. Moon and a group of 17 members of the Special Task Force, a service organization for American youth, were honored guests at a dinner hosted by the local congregation at the Unification Church compound in San Jose. The Americans were serenaded by a choir of young singers who performed Korean folk songs, “Song of the Spring Breeze,” and “Tongil.” A power-point presentation told the story of the founding of Tele-Paz TV, which now reaches 90 percent of the viewers in the central and northern parts of Costa Rica. In recent years, many hundreds of Costa Ricans have studied Divine Principle by watching the programs and have become active members of the church as a result. Rev. Moon lauded the unique project, saying, “What you are doing with Tele-Paz is truly a living miracle. Rev. Kim [the national leader of Costa Rica] told me that all of the newest members joined through Tele-Paz. So, as someone who is a deep believer in the power of media and television, I feel like I am preaching to the choir,” she said. The group then watched a video of the World Peace Choir project taking place in Japan and the promo DVD advertising the Manhattan Center in NYC. “Part of the reason I wanted you to see the Peace Choir DVD is so that you would invest in the second generation. The first generation sacrificed everything, their whole youth, their education, and their career for the sake of True Parents, so we must really know how precious the second generation are. When the children’s choirs in Japan started 11 years ago, they couldn’t sing at all. But now, the Japanese government is inviting our Blessed Children to sing at embassies on Embassy Row in Tokyo,” she said. “If you invest in this beautiful choir, your children can become the pride of Costa Rica. My dream is to have youth choirs – not just in Japan – but all over the world. My desire is to see the children of Costa Rica develop as pure, healthy, beautiful sons and daughters of God. Please kiss your children, tell them you love them and help them to dream. Tell them if they work hard, they can accomplish anything. The future presidents of Costa Rica must come from our community,” she told the gathering of 200 Costa Ricans in the church center.